Falling Stars
by RedWhiteAndBlueHERO50
Summary: Alfred shows up at Arthur's house for a surprise visit! Neither of them know what they will realize as the night passes, or how it will end up! As the meteors fall to the earth they both find that their thoughts about eachother arent so different.


Falling Stars

USxUK

Alfred walked down the snow covered street with his phone against his ear. The snow was falling lightly and some flakes had found their way to his head and settled in his hair. He held onto the phone with one hand and had the other in the pocket of his bomber jacket. It was late and there wasn't anyone on the street; and the houses all had their curtains closed, only letting a stream of light out to aid the street lamps. Alfred sighed and looked up at the sky as the phone rang for the seventh time. He took the phone away from his ear, ready to hang up, when a voice answered on the other line.

"Hello… Alfred?" The voice said. Alfred stopped walking and threw the phone to his ear with both hands around it hearing the irate Englishman's voice.

"Iggy!" He yelled.

"Bloody hell! What's wrong with you, git, you don't have to yell!" Arthur said, moving the phone away from his ear. "And don't call me that, my name is Arthur!" He yelled back.

"Yeah, yeah whatever… Listen, listen Ig- uh, Arthur!" Alfred said excitedly starting to walk again.

"I'm listening, but make it quick, its late here you know…" Arthur said setting his tea cup on his desk and stacking some papers.

"Well, there is a meteor shower tonight and it only occurs once, like, every couple thousand years!" Alfred put his left hand back in his pocket smiling as he reached his destination.

"So, what about it?" Arthur frowned and held the cordless phone to his ear with his shoulder as he looked for some files in his desk drawers.

"Well, I wanted to watch it with you…" Alfred said quietly looking up at the building he had been searching for.

"Huh? You are aware that no matter how fast a plane you take, you will never reach London in time for the meteor shower… It's already dark." Arthur said and sat up straight in his chair rubbing the sides of his head. Alfred gave him the biggest headaches sometimes.

"Yeah, I know…" Alfred said ringing Arthur's doorbell. He heard Arthur get up from his desk to get the door.

"Who the hell could be visiting at this hour?" He muttered agitated. "Sorry, Alfred… Someone's at the door." Arthur said, but got dial-tone. "Arg! Alfred you bloody twit, how dare you hang up on me?" Arthur yelled as he stomped down the stairs and unlocked the deadbolt. "I can't believe him…" He muttered to himself as he opened the large oak door to see Alfred standing there with one hand on the door frame.

"Hey, Iggy!" Alfred yelled, excited.

"Don't call me that, damn it!" Arthur yelled back, turning a light shade of pink. "How did you get here anyway?" He looked at Alfred, who was dressed in a white T-shirt that said_ Who's Your Hero? _(with some obnoxious American designs on it none the less), jeans, his brown WWI bomber jacket, and a pair of red converse. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were a bright red colour, and he had flakes of snow in his hair and attached to the fur on his jacket. Arthur couldn't help but think something was off, and then his eyes came to rest on Alfred's. "Where are your glasses?" Arthur asked, having to look away, as staring at Alfred for too long made his stomach feel weird.

"Oh, I had to take them off because the frame was getting cold and it stung my face." Alfred said in his ever so prominent as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "And to answer your first question, I left on a flight last night, and ended up here because I wanted to watch the meteor shower with you! We discussed this already, remember?"

"I-I see…" Arthur said fumbling with the phone he still had in his hands. He looked up again. "Ah, um, you must be cold, come in and I will make you some coffee." Arthur offered, stepping aside to let the larger nation in. Alfred walked into the living room with Arthur behind him. After bolting the door shut again Arthur walked over to a small couch and grabbed a blanket off of the top. "Here…" He said handing it to Alfred, who was in the middle of putting Texas back on the bridge of his nose. He then set the phone on a side table (making a mental note to bring it back to the office later) and walked into the kitchen to start making coffee and more tea for himself. He was interrupted by Alfred who walked in.

"Um, Arthur…" He said. Arthur jumped at his voice but didn't turn around, pretending to be busy making the coffee.

"What?" He asked, kicking himself mentally for the quick, harsh tone in his voice. He reached up and pulled the coffee blend out of the cabinet.

"You should hurry, or we are going to miss it." Alfred said, seemingly unfazed by Arthur's tone. Arthur was very thankful that Alfred was famous for not being able to read the atmosphere once again. He turned around.

"Miss what?"

"The meteor shower! We were going to watch it together, remember?" Alfred walked over and took the other cup off of the counter to fill it with hot water for the tea.

"Oh yeah… I can get that you, just… go find somewhere to watch it…." Arthur said coldly and pressed his hands firmly to the countertop.

"I guess we could go out to the garden and watch it… Though, we will probably get snowed on." Alfred suggested.

"Sure… That's fine." Arthur's harsh tone seemed to faze the American faintly this time. He frowned as Alfred nodded slowly and left the kitchen. Arthur slammed his fist on the counter. "I'm such an idiot… such a bloody idiot…" He said. He looked down at the coffee mug sitting in front of him. It was a cup hand painted with stars and stripes that Alfred brought with him from America, just so that he could have a coffee mug to drink out of when he was over at Arthur's flat in London. "The only person that I really care about came to see me and I act like this? What am I doing?" Arthur straightened up and went to get the cream from the fridge. He was closing the door as Alfred ran into the room and grabbed him by the arm. Arthur yelled at Alfred for making him drop the cream as he was pushed outside by the American who was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"It's starting, It's starting!" Alfred dragged Arthur out of the kitchen and to the garden. When they reached the open door Arthur was amazed by what he saw. The sky was filled with millions of falling stars, each leaving behind a streak of light as they fell towards the earth. Arthur paused as he felt Alfred put his jacket around his shoulders. "It's cold out here you know… And you don't want the snow melting on you." Alfred said avoiding eye contact with the smaller nation.

"Yeah, but what about you now, you giant git?" Arthur asked.

"I brought that blanket out you gave me earlier, I should be fine." Alfred smiled down at him, noticing the small flakes already settling in the Brit's messy hair.

"Oh…" Arthur frowned, he hated that Alfred could always smile, no matter what the circumstances. He hated the fact that even though they broke off their ties for several decades, Alfred still acted like nothing happened. Worst of all though, he hated himself for still being in love with Alfred; even though he knew the feeling was always, and always would be, one sided. Alfred led the way to one of the many wooden benches that Arthur had in his garden, not once looking away from the sky. Arthur looked up to see azure blue eyes wide with wonder. His own eyes widened as his face flushed a light pink. To him, Alfred's eyes were the most beautiful in the world. Alfred turned and sat on the bench, abruptly pulling the smaller nation down next to him.

"H-hey, Alfred!" He found himself being pulled into Alfred's strong arms as the blanket was draped over them both.

"It's much warmer this way… frankly your country is way too cold for me with all this snow." Alfred said laughing softly.

"Oh, is it?" Arthur was glad it was dark, or he was afraid that the larger nation beside him could see the bright red colour that had washed over his face. He had to say something; he had to push Alfred off of him. But, why couldn't he? He thought he wanted to. Arthur was about to put his hands to the American's side when Alfred's grip on him grew tighter and he pointed to the sky.

"Iggy, look! There's a really big one! Make a wish, okay?" Alfred said excitedly. He closed his eyes and smiled really big. Arthur looked up at him and sighed, a few moments later to be met with large sparkling eyes the deepest colour of Cerulean. "Did you make a wish?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I did…" Arthur looked away from him to gaze up at the sky.

"Good." The two nations sat in silence for a moment before Alfred spoke again, "Oh…."

"What?" Arthur muttered, silently cursing him for ruining the moment. He felt the American's strong hold around him loosen.

"Well, you see… I kind of flew over here and never actually thought about what I was going to do after this… I didn't exactly book a hotel room…" Alfred trailed off.

"You stupid git… honestly I wonder sometimes how you don't get lost in that empty brain of yours…" Arthur started, being interrupted halfway through.

"Well, sorry for being stupid…" Alfred leaned his elbow on the armrest of the bench, settling his head to sit in his palm, pouting.

"I wasn't done talking…" Arthur shot him a look, but continued. "You know you are always welcome to stay here. I-It's not like I want you to, it's just that it would be troublesome for you to stay out on the streets and—" Arthur stopped, being interrupted by the boisterous American once again.

"Can I really stay here, Iggy?" He asked excitedly, leaning over towards Arthur again, too close for his liking.

"Y-yes, you can stay… As long as you stop calling me that! Honestly of all the nicknames you could come up with…" Arthur looked in the other direction and started to stand up. "I guess I will go get the couch set up for you—"

"Wait, it's not over yet! You can't just leave in the middle, it's bad luck!" Alfred pulled on Arthur's arm, dragging him back to the bench, though, because of Alfred's abnormal strength, Arthur was pulled farther than intended.

"Alfred! You… what is wrong with you?" Arthur yelled from his new position in Alfred's lap.

"Aw, c'mon Iggy, It was an accident! Don't get so mad…" Alfred moved Arthur so that he was now sitting on the bench. Arthur was a little upset about his new position, but he wasn't about to let Alfred know that. "Just forget about the world for once. You work too much, it stresses you out!"

"I do not! You just don't work enough so it seems that way." Arthur said, refusing to let Alfred's lazy lifestyle rub off on him.

"Next time you come to the States, I am taking you to a baseball game. How does that sound? You need to see the world outside of that office of yours." Alfred said, just a little too excited.

"Baseball?" Arthur asked. "Why in bloody hell would I want to go to a baseball game? All they have there is greasy food and beer…" He complained.

"Well, I know the manager for the Red Sox and He could get us some kick ass seats! What do you say? C'mon Arthur, It'll be fun! I bet you have never been to Fenway!" Alfred said, poking him in the arm.

"What on earth is 'Fenway'?" Arthur asked, noticeably irritated by the American's prodding.

"Huh?" Alfred said surprised. "Even Feli knows what Fenway is!"

"Well, I'm not Feliciano am I? So I don't know what it is." Arthur said, angry that the Pasta-loving Italian knew more than he did.

"Fenway is where the Sox play! Geez man, get with the time. It's not the 15th century anymore." Alfred said, poking the irate Englishman again.

"You really want me to go that badly?" Arthur asked.

"I can get us press seats, and I can get the people to let you bring in some tea from home or something." The American's offer suddenly got more interesting to Arthur after the word 'tea' was mentioned.

"Hm… guess I will have to go then, won't I."

"It's a good thing you accepted my offer, or I was just going to drag you along anyway…" Alfred teased him.

"As if I would let you!" Arthur exclaimed, turning away because he knew that his face must have been red, remembering that Alfred showed no shame in picking him up like a bride and taking him places he refused to go.

"I know you will have fun." The American's voice not as loud as it had been previously, because he was occupied yawning.

"How do you assume so? I don't know a single thing about baseball you idiot." Arthur rallied.

"Then I shall teach you." Alfred said softly.

"Teach me? How are you going to teach me about baseball, when you can't even teach yourself how to act like a gentleman?"

"I'm a hero, I don't need to act like a gentleman." Alfred said.

"Sure, you're a hero as much as Natalia is married to Ivan." Arthur laughed quietly.

"I _am_ a hero." Alfred said quiet enough that one would call it a whisper.

"Of course you are." Arthur whispered back, looking at the sky, watching the meteors plummet to earth, only to be burnt up in its atmosphere. The snow wasn't falling as much now, but the two of them had plenty of flakes covering their heads, shoulders, and the length of the blanket they had spread out over them. Arthur sighed. "When is this thing going to be over anyway?" he asked, but got no response. "Alfred, I'm talking to—" Arthur stopped when he felt a familiar weight on his shoulder. He looked over to have his pale cheek brushed by Nantucket, the one piece of hair on the American's head that wouldn't cooperate with gravity. His face flushed a bright red colour from one ear to the other. "A-Alfred?" Arthur asked again. He sighed, getting no response from the larger nation, who, now, had ten pounds of his weight resting on Arthur's shoulder. He put his arm around the American to rest it on his back, just high enough so his small hand could stroke Alfred's hair. He took Texas off of the bridge of Alfred's nose and held it in the fist he had now rested on his lap.

"—Fred…. Alfred…. Alfred, can you hear me?" Arthur asked rubbing the larger nation's shoulder, trying to wake him up.

"Y-yeah…" Alfred lifted his head up to find that he had been laying in Arthur's lap. He sat up quickly and took Texas from Arthur's hand.

"You slept through the last half hour of the meteor shower." Arthur said, the pale colour of his face now dominated by a deep red blush.

"Oh, sorry about that…" Alfred said. "Well, is it over?"

"Yeah, it just ended—"

"Oh good, then let's go inside, I'm freezing…" Alfred said and jumped up off the bench to run into the house, his face a shade of red seemingly mirroring Arthur's. Arthur gathered up the blanket, but set it back down again to slip his arms all the way into the sleeves of Alfred's jacket. It was warmer than he thought it would be, even though it had no fur on the inside. The sleeves were too long, actually it was too big overall, and it smelled like hamburgers and coffee. It also had another scent though. It smelled like ocean spray and different types of soil, mixed with the smell of urban life and rain. It smelled like… well, for lack of a better word… America. Arthur stood still with his hands, now hidden by long sleeves, held out in front of him. He looked down and realized that after all these years maybe Alfred didn't hate him as much as he thought. His hands started to shake as small drops of water fell onto the sleeves of Alfred's bomber. He started to cry, because, worst of all he realized that Alfred was here, but was going to leave again… and he was too scared to do anything about it.

"Arthur? You okay?" Alfred looked out the door to see the small nation wipe his face furiously and gather up the blanket.

"Y-yeah." Arthur hid his face in the blanket as he walked in the door and past a thoroughly confused American. He set the blanket down on the couch and walked up the stairs. "I'm going to take a bath, and then going to bed. Let me know if you need anything before I go to sleep though." Arthur said as he disappeared down the upstairs hallway.

"Okay…" Alfred said quietly. He lay down on the couch and folded his arms behind his head. He looked out the window to see lightning flash, followed by a loud clap of thunder. He reached into his pocket to pull out an old gold pocket watch. He ran his thumb over the front of the case, following the bumps and ridges of the roses and vines that had been skilfully etched into the surface. He clicked the button on the top, causing the cover to swing sideways, revealing a gold faced clock, with ruby studded hands and pearl roman numerals. He smiled as he looked to the inside of the cover, where taped, was a picture he had taken with Arthur at the first world meeting that had ever been held. Another lightning strike flashed, lighting up the crystals embedded in the watch's face. Alfred smiled nostalgically and shut the watch, putting it back in his pocket. He started to dose off, listening to Arthur open the bathroom door and wander into his own room, leaving that door cracked just enough to let a little bit of light in.

Alfred thought Arthur's old flat was creepy. It creaked, moaned, and sometimes even rattled. Alfred found that he couldn't sleep. He lay awake on the couch, the blanket Arthur gave him pulled up to his chest. "Geez, why doesn't he just move into someplace else? This thing is so old." He muttered to himself. It had been a while since Arthur had gone to sleep. Alfred wondered how long it would be until he himself drifted off. He stared at the ceiling; listening to the rain and thunder, closing his eyes only twice, just to be scared into opening them again. He sighed and sat up. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep this way, and got up off the couch. His cheeks burned as he climbed the stairs to the second floor of Arthur's flat. He turned around, more than once, to look back and make sure no ghosts were following him. He reached the door to Arthur's room and was about to open it when he heard noises coming from inside. He pushed open the door quietly to see Arthur curled up around his bomber jacket. Alfred sighed, walking over to sit on the bed beside the crying nation. He had been wondering why it started to rain so suddenly, it really was because Arthur was crying. "Arthur, are you awake?"

"Go away you git…" Arthur said, half heartedly.

"That's not the Arthur I know. My Arthur would have sat up and punched me and cursed at me and told me how much of an idiot I was." Alfred said, rubbing Arthur's back.

"That's total bollocks." Arthur mumbled in response. Alfred smiled, shaking his head.

"No its not." He rubbed circles into the smaller country's back. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong? I guarantee that it's something this Hero can fix." Alfred said quietly. Arthur shook his head slowly. "Why not?"

"Because you will laugh." Arthur said.

"Why would you think that?" Alfred was shocked. Arthur said whatever, and did whatever he wanted regardless of what other people would think, practically whenever he felt like. What was up with him now? Alfred settled on the fact that he was too stressed out.

"Because you laugh at everything." Arthur whispered into Alfred's jacket.

"Tell me, and if I laugh, you can kick me out on the streets if you want to." Alfred proposed.

"Fine…" Arthur said, wrapping his small fingers further into the leather of the bomber. "I… I'm scared you are going to leave me again and never come back." He paused, waiting for a rambunctious reaction from the American, but getting nothing, he continued. "I… don't have many friends… well, no friends other than you actually… Because I don't quite want to call Francis a friend. But, I don't even know if you think of me as a friend. I… I guess everyone hates my attitude and personality, and not to mention my cooking. But, for some reason you put up with it and I don't know why, and it bugs the living hell out of me! I keep getting these stomach wrenching feelings that you are only being nice to me to screw with my head, and that when you get bored you are just going to toss me out and go find another person to mess with… Like Kiku! You get along with Kiku way better than with me! How come you didn't watch the meteor shower with him? I'm sure you would have had so much more fun than you did with me!" Arthur buried his head farther into the furry collar of the jacket, crying harder than before. A large thunder clap shook the flat. "I don't know how I would live without you again… If I lost you for another hundred years I don't know what would happen to me… I… I guess what I mean is… I don't know how to say it… I just…" There was a silence for a moment.

"You what?" Alfred said, famously not reading the atmosphere as per usual.

"Oh bloody hell you stupid git! You are going to make me say it aren't you? I just… aw bugger…" He totally covered his head with Alfred's jacket. "Damn it, I-I love you Alfred! I always have! Even that day on the battlefield… All soaked and bloody, I didn't want to give you up. I hated myself for losing you that day, but I hated myself even more for thinking about pointing that gun at you! I couldn't take it anymore…" Arthur found himself picked up and now resting in the lap of a softly smiling American.

"Hey, Iggy… You want to know something?" Alfred wrapped his arms around the small nation and rested his head on top of a seemingly uncombed one. "I have loved you ever since you came to find me in that wheat field, and you told me you would look after me and take care of me." Alfred rubbed Arthur's back gently until he started to calm down. "Arthur…" He whispered as he placed a kiss on his forehead.

"W-what?" Arthur knew his face probably looked like a tomato, but he didn't care at that point.

"Can I sleep here with you? Your house is scary." Alfred said.

"Y-you stupid git..." Arthur said back.

"I will take that as a yes." Alfred smiled and tilted Arthur's head back. He leaned in and brought their lips together in a gentle kiss. Breaking the contact he laid back onto the sheets, pulling the small Englishman with him. Holding him close he reduced the space between them to nothing. "Hey, Arthur…" Alfred whispered.

"What?"

"I love you…"

"Shut up…" Even though neither one of them could see in the darkness, both of their faces were bright red. They lay together like that for hours, as the rain calmed down and lulled them to sleep.


End file.
